The Americas

Impunity in Colombia and Panama

A get-out-of-jail-free card

Nov 22nd 2010, 22:02by S.B. and I.E. | BOGOTÁ AND PANAMA CITY

MARÍA DEL PILAR HURTADO was a central figure in Colombia's investigation of the spying and corruption scandals that erupted during the presidency of Álvaro Uribe, who left office in August. She served for a year as the director of DAS, the country's domestic intelligence agency, before resigning in 2008 following reports that the service had illegally wiretapped conversations of opposition politicians on her watch. Mr Uribe says he did not know the spying was taking place. But former DAS employees have testified that some of the president's closest aides told Ms Hurtado to conduct the wiretaps and received the resulting reports. Colombian pundits have eagerly speculated about whether she would implicate Mr Uribe if she is charged.

That question will not be answered anytime soon. On October 31st Ms Hurtado travelled to neighbouring Panama, where she applied for asylum, citing fear for her safety. Ricardo Martinelli, the country's president and a personal friend of Mr Uribe's, granted her request on November 19th—just days before Colombia's general prosecutor was set to indict her. The only justification given in the official decree was promoting “social and political stability in the region”. Mr Martinelli later added that Ms Hurtado had “helped Panama very much” as the leader of DAS. Ms Hurtado had previously told a columnist for Semana, a newsmagazine, that Mr Uribe had encouraged her to flee the country and seek asylum.

The decision has caused outrage on both sides of the border. Jaime Arrubla Paucar, the president of Colombia's Supreme Court—and himself a target of the wiretaps—accused Panama of “defending the criminal and not the victim”. Human-rights activists and legal experts have noted that Ms Hurtado was not subject to political persecution, the usual grounds for an asylum request, but rather a criminal investigation. And in Panama, Mr Martinelli has been accused of hypocrisy. Earlier this year his attorney-general, Ana Matilde Gómez, was suspended and banned from travelling abroad for having authorised wiretaps.

In contrast, Colombia's president, Juan Manuel Santos, limited his reaction to expressing “regret” that Panama did not inform his country of its decision ahead of time, and noting that Colombian forces could have kept Ms Hurtado safe if she felt her life was in danger. Although his foreign minister, María Ángela Holguín, has said the country is considering filing a formal diplomatic protest, none has been issued so far. A sharper response might have antagonised both Mr Uribe, whose support propelled Mr Santos to the presidency, and Mr Martinelli, who pointedly described his choice as a “sovereign decision”. Mr Santos will probably have difficulty continuing to downplay the issue, though. According to his justice minister, Germán Vargas Lleras, six other former DAS employees currently under investigation may already be planning asylum applications.